to think it's grim up North?

[threefeethighandrising]

We are going to relocate in the next few years, and Manchester is a serious contender for DP for jobs.

If DP was to get work there then we would live somewhere semi-rural and commutable.

But ... the only experiences I have of Manchester and the surrounding areas are though my ex. He was an arsehole of the highest order, and the many people he introduced me to (his family and friends, in Manchester & Glossop) were the most painfully dysfunctional, damaged people I have ever had the misfortune to meet.

My opinion of the area is that it's the last place on earth I'd want to live, and my skin crawls when I think of the time I spent there.

But it can't all be like this can it? Surely IABU and my experiences with my ex are clouding my judgement? Surely there's a good (great?) side that I've just not seen?

Can you sell it to me?

I live in Rossendale, moved oop North 12 years ago to live with DH and lived in Ramsbottom first, worked in Manchester pre-dc and loved it.
Love it here, yep, it rains a lot but it's so friendly, so diverse and really so very surprising.
Clitheroe/Ribble Valley area is chock full of TV Chefs Gastropubs and restaurants and just the most amazing scenery.
Glossop is lovely! Though I did spend a long time on a Friday afternoon trying to get in and out of the place, but yes, lovely town.
Saddleworth/Diggle etc, Gorgeous!
I love Lymm but am not a massive fan of Wilmslow/Hale but can see the appeal if you are that way inclined.
Todmorden/Hebden Bridge, lovely, amazing scenery, accessible and very arty/alternative vibe, you'd feel like you were on a perma holiday.

I was truly amazed the first time I went into Liverpool, the architecture is amazing, it is a beautiful city, actually likewise Newcastle I expected both places to be so grim, not in the least. York/Harrogate/Durham well documented how lovely they are and they don't disappoint.

Yorkshire dales/Lake District/Northumbria/Whitby - all gorgeous (I know not all of it is!).

The North is fab, look on it as a huge adventure, loads of new places to explore. I'd never live anywhere else now. Especially now I have anti-frizz hair products.

Bright and fierce and fickle is the south...dark and true and tender is the north. Never were truer words spoken. Lived in both. Need to live in the south for work, but don't love it. I love the north with my whole heart... but can't work there. Sad.

Actually, when I say my heart's in the north, it's actually in the West Riding. I could give or take Manchester.

Oops! Sense of humour bypass here then obviously

my fault. Still. You are more than welcome.

Honestkly threefeet, have loads of weekend breaks up here until you find somewhere that you feel is right.
I love Hebden Bridge, but couldn't live there, I could live in Whalley but not Clitheroe, Lymm but not Wilmslow. You'll only know by exploring what is right for you.
BTW, forgot to mention Buxton and Bakewell, Derbyshire, easy access to Manchester and lovely.

As a Midlander born and bred I amaze myself with the strength of my loyalty to the North, I hate all that grim stuff and my relatives go on about rain etc all the time. But I chose to live here. I love it. You'll find the right place for you.

I've lived all over Manchester. I have had difference considerations with each move, so have tied it in with that.

Salford is cheap, cheerful and on the way up especially with the Beeb relocation. I lived there whilst working a lot and partying hard. They have a fair few new builds (I occupied one of these not so long ago), but since we expanded our family it hasn't quite ticked all our boxes. Interestingly, we never had any trouble though, and I actually really enjoyed living there.

I live in that place you don't want to move to (Altrincham). It is nice but is going down slightly and the high street ain't what it used to be. Hale is lovely, as is Alderly Edge but expect a similar size house to the one you currently have.

Didsbury and Chorlton are lovely, have great parks, easy commutes to city centre and good schools. Fairly family friendly and lots to do.

There are many places I'd tell you to avoid, but for fear of insulting I won't. However house prices are a good indicator.

It's not grim up North, but its nice to know you're trying to change your mindset now, rather than being forced to when you get here and being resentful about the whole experience.

Durham is gorgeous, as is York (they aren't commutable just for the purpose of the discussion). DH grew up in Durham and it's lovely - everyone does tend to know each other though which I find a bit unsettling.

We lived in Wilmslow until last year. It wasn't grim but it was stupidly expensive and you couldn't glance in any direction without seeing a handful of cars costing close to 100k. I grew up in Surrey and without a doubt, Wilmslow is the most snobby, money driven place I have ever lived. It was way too much pressure for me in my wellies and fleece.

yup, snobby & money driven is exactly not what we're after!

Our ideal I guess would be a vibrant, beautiful, friendly place, perhaps with a bit of an arty vibe, lots of fresh air and good state schools. Not much to ask is it

I live in the North West but personally would not live near to Manchester. There are some lovely places a bit further out - towards Knutsford, Lymm, South Warrington

The trouble is, your DH will be working in a part of Manchester were you really wouldn't want to live. Also, the problem with hip and vibrant is that it doesn't often go hand in hand with being a good family area with good schools etc.

Didsbury is considered hip and Cholton is hip but edgey. Trouble is they're both Manchester LEA and Manc schools are not great on the whole. A couple of the Didsbury primary schools are good though.
Places like Hale are also quite funky but probably quite a trek and we found it more expensive than Wilmslow.

Stockport is probably the best for schools, certainly primary schools but maybe a bit of a trek. You need to be careful with Stockport though. Some parts (Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, Marple)are lovely and affluent with lots of coffee bars etc and excellent schools and other parts are seriously deprived.
Salford had a bad reputation but Worsley is lovely. It's green and has a great school.

We're back down south now and I do miss the general area sometimes but Wilmslow just wasn't for us.

Hebden Bridge sounds like a good place to start for arty and friendly and fresh-airful, threefeethigh.

Leftblank, it'll be a while til you need to trouble yourself with schools then... Just to reassure you that the teenagers you see cycling along the pavement/walking with their skirts hoiked up to their knickerline on the way to the more central school are a pretty good bunch really!

If you're not after snooty, "I drive an X5/Cayenne type sitch" (phew!) please go take a look at Hebden Bridge and surrounds, there is a poster with this name, but also Mytholmroyd is V lovely. Then look at Ribble Valley/Clitheroe/Whalley as well.
Saddleworth/Delph and Diggle are worth a look.
A lot of the S Manchester surrounds can tend towards the "all furcoat and no knickers" football tastic and I am not a fan.

I am a Leeds girl originally, loved living there. I now live 8 miles out of York in a village, been here 13 years - love it.

Ooh I see Lizzy mentioned Buxton. We had a weekend there not so long - it was beautiful.

Whatever you do, don't move to Warrington

If your H is working in Nth Mcr you should aim for that area as the journey from Didsbury/Chorlton and all points south is hard. Both those places are uber-trendy, filled with professional people and v.expensive imo. Saddleworth area is glorious but when it snows it's hard getting there and back. Rossendale Valley is on the way up (good road links). Whalley area is good but quite a way out - quiet money in these areas - think cottages/barn conversions. You'd be surprised at the areas between the towns - there can be a lot quiet villages, small hamlets on the back roads

Some of the villages around Bolton would get my vote- Edgworth for example. Or perhaps Prestwich. The commute can take up to a hour so somewhere on the M62 corridor might be worth a look.

Yes, the drive up from S Manch/N Cheshire can be like a car park esp the A34. If you can say where his job will be you'll get more specific suggestions. The trouble is, much as I hate to admit it, the funky village type places with the cafes, delis and organic bakeries and the like, are, in the main, places like Didsbury, Bramhall and Hale which are all south of the city.

It really depends what you're looking for. But if schools are top of your list I would look at Stockport and Trafford. We had good schools in Wilmslow too but way too much bling for me. Our shabby chic village on the coast suits me sooo much better but it certainly wasn't grim. (smile)
Good luck with it.

I live in Hale (the non-footballers' wives bit) and commute to NE Manchester (Rochdale, to be precise). No probs. 40 minutes there, but I leave early and about 50 minutes back during rush hour.

Most people have said you don't want to live in NE Manchester but can I put a word in for Littleborough? Houses for next to nothing, fantastic surroundings. Manchester down the road, Yorkshire round the corner. Use the money you save on a house (4 beds, £230k) to send the kids to the excellent private school over the border in Oldham.

Don't live in Wilmslow. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. It has a massively depressing high street given the ostentatious wealth knocking around. All people care about is how they look, not how they are. Not everyone mind, but enough for me to want to get out. Hale, despite its reputation, has large parts which are not at all like that.

I moved from London and lived in Hebden Bridge for a year. Someone had painted over the word 'Hebden' on the road side going in and replaced it with 'Yuppie' (I know that dates me). It was a middle class Southern enclave in West Yorkshire and while it is beautiful, it was weird and Yorkshire people laughed at it. I got happier when I moved to a Pakistani area in Bradford where no-one seemed bothered about my Southern accent. We were all outcasts together.

Huge amount of prejudice about Southerners up North in those days but perhaps it has changed. Manchester is a bit more cosmopolitan. I found it tiresome and was pleased to come back down to the South.

Sorry I haven't been clear (you can blame my ignorance of all things north!). When I said I didn't want to live in Manchester I meant the city of Manchester, I'm not ruling greater Manchester out necessarily.

However private schools are out on point of principle; good state schools are a must.

I must say I'm definitely warming to the idea of moving north though

There's several year's worth of exploratory weekend breaks on this thread!

Huge amount of prejudice about Southerners up North

I reckon that may be more Yorkshire than other parts. I've never noticed any prejudice at all in Lancashire - except some of DDs classmates commented on her 'London' or even 'Australian' accent. She was born in Preston and raised in Lancashire, its not her fault she's picked up my dodgy accent! (my impeccably northern parents had the bad taste to rear me in Essex)

YANBU it is generally shit up north. Rainy, cold with bigots dressed up as salt of the earth gods own Yorkshire folk.

Talking of beaches... coming from the south coast the Lancashire shore will be a bit different. Lots of sand. Dunes and dunes of it. Miles of it... in all directions. Sometimes so much you can't even see the sea. Great if you like walking, plenty for kids to play on, useless for swimming.